BILL NUMBER: AB 376	CHAPTERED  09/08/99

	CHAPTER   364
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 19, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   MAY 10, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MARCH 15, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Floyd

                        FEBRUARY 11, 1999

   An act to repeal and add Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section
12531) of Division 5 of the Business and Professions Code, relating
to weights and measures, and making an appropriation therefor.

      e law without Governor's signature.  Filed with
Secretary of State September 8, 1999.)



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 376, Floyd.  Weights and measures:  device repair:  service
agencies.
   (1) Existing law provides a comprehensive scheme for the
regulation of device repairmen, defined as persons who engage in the
business of installing, adjusting, servicing, or repairing commercial
weighing or measuring devices, as defined.  Existing law makes it
unlawful to engage in that business unless registered with the
Director of Food and Agriculture, as specified.
   This bill would revise and recast those regulatory provisions and,
among other things, provide for the registration of service
agencies, defined to mean any person that repairs a commercial
device, designed to be used for determining weight or measure.  The
bill would set forth certain registration requirements for service
agencies, provide for a written examination for the licensing of
service agents on and after January 1, 2001, establish a 7-member
advisory committee, and prescribe the grounds and procedures for the
denial, suspension, or revocation of a service agency's registration.
  The bill would require prescribed fees to accompany an application
for service agency registration and would require those fees to be
deposited in the Food and Agriculture Fund, a continuously
appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation.  Because, under
existing law, a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the
bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new
crimes.
  (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 12531) of Division
5 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 12531) is added to
Division 5 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:

      CHAPTER 5.5.  SERVICE AGENCIES FOR WEIGHING AND MEASURING
DEVICES
      Article 1.  Definitions

   12531.  As used in this chapter, the following definitions are
applicable:
   (a) "Service agency" means any person, as defined in Section
12011, that for hire, award, commission, or any other payment of any
kind, repairs a commercial device.
   (b) "Service agent" means any person employed by a service agency
to repair a commercial device.
   (c) "Device" means any weighing or measuring equipment,
contrivance, or instrument used, or designed to be used, for
determining weight or measure, and includes any tool, appliance, or
accessory used in connection therewith, that is used for commercial
purposes as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 12500.
   (d) "Placed in service" means to permit the use of a device that
has been tested and found to be correct, as defined in subdivision
(c) of Section 12500, and type approved, as provided for in Section
12500.5, or to submit a device to a sealer for verification prior to
installation.
   (e) "Correct" means any device that meets all of the tolerance and
specification requirements of Section 12107.
   (f) "Repair," in any of its variant forms, means to provide
maintenance, or to install, adjust, recondition, or service a device.


      Article 2.  Registration

   12532.  (a) No person shall engage in business as a service agency
unless registered by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture pursuant
to this chapter and unless the current registration fee and any
penalty has been paid.
   (b) Applications for registration shall be in writing on a form
prescribed by the department, and shall be accompanied by the
required fee.
   (c) A service agency shall forward to the department the name or
names of service agents employed by them, with the appropriate fees
required by Section 12535.
   (d) A device may only be placed in service by a sealer or a
service agency.  A device used by a public utility in connection with
measuring gas, electricity, water, steam, or communication service
subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission is
exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
   (e) Except as provided in subdivision (f), no person who repairs a
device is required to be registered if the device is placed into
service by a sealer or service agency.
   (f) Vapor measuring devices operating at greater than 11 inches
water column shall be installed by a service agency.
   (g) In the event of any change in the legal status of a registered
service agency, the new legal entity shall obtain a new registration
prior to operating as a service agency.
   (h) A service agency may employ or designate a licensed service
agent to act for the service agency and shall be responsible for all
acts of that person.
   12533.  Prior to the issuance of its registration or in order to
maintain its current registration, a service agency shall do all of
the following:
   (a) (1) Possess, or have available for use, standards and testing
equipment necessary to meet the minimum testing requirements
contained in the "Notes" section of the specific device regulation
set forth in Division 9 (commencing with Section 4000) of Title 4 of
the California Code of Regulations, for each type of device for which
the service agency is providing service.
   (2) When applicable, the standards and testing equipment shall
meet the specifications and tolerances published in the most current
National Institute of Standards and Technology 105 Series Handbooks
for Field Standard Weights (NIST Class F), Field Standard Measuring
Flasks, and Graduated Neck Type Volumetric Field Standards.
   (b) Ensure that every service agent in its employ has a current
service agent license.
   (c) Possess a current copy of Division 9 (commencing with Section
4000) of Title 4 of the California Code of Regulations, Field
Reference Manual.
   12534.  Commencing January 1, 2001, a service agency shall use
suitable and sufficient standards that are permanently and uniquely
identified, and have a current certificate of accuracy provided by
the department or by a laboratory certified pursuant to Section
12314, in the determination of a correct device.

      Article 3.  Fees

   12535.  (a) An application for service agency registration shall
be accompanied by an annual fee of two hundred dollars ($200) for a
primary maintenance location, and one hundred dollars ($100) for each
additional maintenance location of the applicant, and twenty-five
dollars ($25) for every person employed by a service agency as a
service agent.
   (b) Each registration required by this chapter shall be renewed
annually, on or before the first day of the first month of the
service agency's registration year, by application to the department,
accompanied by the annual registration fee.  "Registration year"
means the period of time beginning with the first day of the month
the service agency is required to be registered in this state, and
ending one year from date of issuance of the registration.
   12536.  Fees received by the department pursuant to this chapter
shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the Food and
Agriculture Fund to be used for the administration and enforcement of
this chapter.
   12537.  Sixty percent of the funds derived pursuant to this
chapter shall be allocated by the secretary to counties that employ a
sealer or director of weights and measures.  The payment to each
county shall be in proportion to the funds expended by the county in
the enforcement of Division 5 (commencing with Section 12001).

      Article 4.  Examinations

   12540.  (a) Commencing on January 1, 2001, no person shall be
employed by a service agency as a service agent unless he or she
possesses a current license.
   (b) Commencing on January 1, 2001, applicants for a service agent
license shall pass a written examination on the laws and regulations
governing weights and measures.  A passing score of 70 percent or
greater is required to qualify for a license pursuant to this
chapter.  Examinations developed by the department may be taken by
appointment in any county sealer's office or at a location designated
by the Division of Measurement Standards.
   (c) An application for the examination to obtain a service agent
license shall be in a form prescribed by the department and shall be
accompanied by a fee established by the secretary to recover costs of
examination administration, payable to the county in which the
examination is given, or to the Division of Measurement Standards, if
the examination is given  by the department.
   (d) Every service agent shall be reexamined every five years.  To
maintain a service agent license, the reexamination shall be taken
and passed on or before the date on which the examination was last
taken and passed.

      Article 5.  Advisory Committee

   12541.  (a) The department shall establish a seven-member advisory
committee consisting of the following members:
   (1) Two members representing registered service agencies.
   (2) Two members representing county sealers or directors of
weights and measures.
   (3) One member representing device manufacturers.
   (4) One member representing industry clients of service agencies.

   (5) One member representing the general public.
   (b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the term of office of
the members of the committee is three years.  Vacancies shall be
filled by the department for any unexpired term.
   (c) Initial appointments to the committee shall be made as
follows:
   (1) One representative of registered service agencies, and one
representative of county sealers or directors of weights and measures
shall be appointed for one year.
   (2) One representative of device manufacturers, one representative
of county sealers or directors of weights and measures, and one
representative of industry clients of service agencies shall be
appointed for two years.
   (3) One representative of registered service agencies, and one
representative of the general public shall be appointed for three
years.
   (d) The committee shall be advisory to the department in all
matters concerning the registration of service agencies.

      Article 6.  Disciplinary Action

   12542.  A service agency registration may be suspended for the
actions of its service agents in violation of this division.  A
service agency's registration may be revoked or suspended, or may be
denied by the department, for any violation of this chapter.
Proceedings for the denial, revocation, or suspension of a
registration shall be in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.  The department shall have all of the powers that are granted
therein.
   12543.  A service agency's authorization to place devices into
service, or to remove out-of-order notices may be suspended by a
county sealer, within his or her county, pursuant to the notice and
hearing provisions described in Section 12544 for violations of this
division.
   12544.  (a) A county sealer intending to suspend the authorization
of a service agency shall notify the service agency in writing of
all of the following:
   (1) The alleged violations to be used as the basis for suspension.

   (2) The proposed duration of the suspension.
   (3) The date the suspension is to begin, which may not be sooner
than 20 days after a notice is mailed.
   (4) The names of service agents to be affected by the suspension.

   (5) The fact that the service agency or service agent shall be
provided the opportunity for an investigational hearing prior to the
suspension.
   (6) The fact that the service agency or service agent may be
represented by legal counsel.
   (7) The fact that the service agency or service agent may appeal
to the department prior to imposition of a suspension.
   (b) A copy of the proposed action to the service agency shall be
immediately forwarded to the department.
   (c) The department may, as a result of the investigative hearing,
declare the suspension to be effective in additional counties.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
